For Lauren Caldwell, the answer was: as far as necessary. She had done what she had to do to protect the one person who meant the most to her in the world—her uncle. She wasn’t proud of herself, but in the end, she had protected him just as he’d always protected her. A year later, a year of being ostracized in the small Virginia town she called home, she found herself helplessly watching her worst nightmare unfold.

She was alone.

Until a stranger became a friend who became the glue that might finally piece together the jagged fragments of her life, of her heart.

How far would you be willing to go for someone you love?

Brant Matthews never wanted to fall in love again; he had worked diligently to avoid emotional entanglements at all costs. He knew what it was to lose the one you loved, to fail them so irrevocably that the entire trajectory of your life shifted. But seeing the broken look in Lauren’s crystal-blue eyes, feeling that old pain flare anew and knowing from experience exactly how much she was hurting… he never stood a chance. She had him, whether she was ready to accept that or not.

And when her childhood tormentor set his sights on her once more, Brant knew exactly how far he would go to keep her safe.